


Lay Your Head On My Breast

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Category: Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Character Study, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, Massage, POV Third Person Limited, Touching, Velvets, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 07:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16781965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Hunter has become the very thing she despises. Luckily for her, there is comfort to be taken even in thecoldestof places, sometimes from the unlikliest of suspects.





	Lay Your Head On My Breast

**Author's Note:**

> I read somewhere that Hunter might get revived as a Velvet in the next book???
> 
> I’ve only read parts of the book and been in the play, so take everything I write with a grain of salt.

Despite the sun hanging high in the air above the cave she now calls home, Hunter cannot sleep. 

Sleep reminds her of death, of the cold, dark, endless chasm she had fallen into before Serpentine had taken it upon herself to revive her. She hates sleep.

She hates what she is now, no matter what Serpentine says to her about appreciating what she’d done.

“Why are you not asleep?” A melodic voice interrupts Hunter’s dark thoughts, and she stiffens, but she doesn’t turn away from the mouth of the cave.

“I could ask you the same question,” Hunter replies coldly.

Lamia doesn’t take the bait. Instead, she shuffles forward until she’s close enough to drape herself around Hunter, and then she does. She sits with her legs on either side of her and pulls Hunter to her chest. Hunter doesn’t resist, but only because she doesn’t have the energy.

“You need rest,” Lamia chides softly.

Hunter shivers. It’s been so long since she was _warm_. The beast fight was the last time, and even that memory is tinged with pain, agony, and the feeling of the warmth slowly slipping from her body. Lamia pressed against her does nothing to help; they are just as cold as each other, now.

“I don’t,” Hunter says shortly. She can feel movement as Lamia shakes her head behind her. Against her own will, Hunter allows her own head to rest against Lamia’s bosom.

“You do. You may not like what you are, but you cannot deny your nature. Nothing good comes to those who try.” Lamia’s fingers, nimble and cool, find their way slowly down Hunter’s arms, her fingers, until she brushes against her hips instead. She rubs slowly, soothingly. Hunter hates how much she doesn’t want to tell her to stop.

“It was not my choice to become… _this_ ,” Hunter spits. She tries to spit the words, at least. They come out soft, full of frustration and an anger she doesn’t know how to justify to another Velvet. Lamia hums softly in acknowledgement, fingers trailing back up from her hips to massage at Hunter’s lithe, calloused hands.

“We do not get a choice, but we must accept it,” she tells Hunter. “I have seen my sisters fall. I have seen them struggle to accept who they have become, and what they must do now to survive. I have seen them succumb to the cold.” Lamia’s fingers are still moving, back up Hunter’s arms, pressing in gentle motions against her chest, just above her breasts. “I do not wish to see it happen again. Especially to you.”

Hunter can feel sleep at the very edge of her consciousness, as hard as she tries to fight it. “Why?” she asks simply.

“You are strong,” Lamia replies. She is massaging her breasts, now, and Hunter’s eyes fall closed. It is not warmth, but it is _something_. “You do not deserve to fall so far.”

There isn’t anything Hunter can think to say to that. Her mind is exhausted, her body failing her. Lamia hums; Hunter is sure she can detect a smile.

“Come to bed,” Lamia murmurs in her ear. When she stands, she pulls Hunter with her, and Hunter leans heavily on her as they make their way back to the inner caves, where the rest of the Velvets already lay asleep.

When she collapses with Lamia against her, Hunter is already asleep. She dreams of _warmth_ , and of cold hands touching her in places she will never speak of when she awakens again.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments are love! Come scream at me on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans.


End file.
